AN 11-year-old boy was hit by a truck Tuesday on Guangda Road in Longgang, when he was riding a Bluegogo bike, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

Zhu Bin, a security guard at Xingguang Industrial Park on Guangda Road, witnessed the accident. He said the boy was hit by a truck from behind and fell to the ground, and his bike was run over and dragged for nearly 50 meters by the truck.

The driver didn’t pull over until Zhu ran after the truck to stop it. Luckily, the boy was only slightly injured, so Zhu brought the boy to his office and called his mother.

Many students easily open the mechanical locks of some app-based bikes without using a password. The Bluegogo bike used by the boy had a private lock on it, meaning the boy might have converted it into a private bike, according to the report.

The boy’s mother said her son goes to school on his own every day because the school is only a 15-minute walk from their home. She denied knowing that her son had put a private lock on an app-based bike until the accident took place.

The boy’s school, Henggang Ankang School, is located inside the industrial park. The school’s security director, Ren Zhong, said safety education was facilitated by teachers every Monday and the school had prohibited students below 12 years of age from riding bicycles.

Ren said students above 12 years old who live far away from school are allowed to ride bicycles with riding cards issued by the school.

According to the city’s traffic police, the driver of the truck wasn’t driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and an investigation of the case continues.

The traffic police said children below 12 years of age are not allowed to ride bicycles on the road or their parents will face penalties. Those who steal, sell, refit or put private locks on app-based bikes will be held criminally responsible. (Zhang Yang)